[Review] Shadowhunters S02E03 – Parabatai Lost

So this episode just about killed me, and it hit me every one of my feels. And I’m not the one because people on twitter were literally sobbing into their cups because this episode hit them so hard. It had Malec feels, Jalec feels, Clizzy and unfortunately for me, Climon feels. However, before I get into any of that, I want to start this review as always by discussing what I loved about this episode.

Warning: This is not a Clary Fray friendly recap (or site for that matter). I’m also not a huge fan of Clary and Jace’s romantic relationship or the love triangle between Jace/Clary/Simon. I’m also very opinionated, and I often call out any character that has fucked up. So if you have a problem with me throwing legitimate criticism at your favorite characters you need to press the back button. I’m open to civil debate, I will not tolerate any trolls under any circumstances.

What I Loved About This Episode

Oh, Jesus, where do I even begin? First of all, Clary was so much better in this episode. Seriously, her behavior this week didn’t make me want to stab her with a fork. I especially love her interaction with Isabelle. I love how Clary was there for Isabelle, reassuring her and comforting her. Their chemistry was just so off the chain, and effortless and it made my shipper’s heart swoon.

Another great surprise for me is that I didn’t want to headdesk with the Clary and Simon’s interaction in this episode. They really do work well together as just friends, and when there is no ‘romantic tension’ or subtext between them. Seriously, I was actually smiling at the scene when Clary and Simon talked about the time he would only eat mustard sandwiches when he was a kid.

I’m going to now take some time to rave loudly about Dominic Sherwood and his fantastic acting in this season so far. He really has been pulling all the stops and has improved so much from season 1. Dominic really deserves all the awards! I really felt for Jace, because his seemingly easy mission to go to Magnus’s place to help wake Alec was inhibited by every obstacle ever.

Not only is Jace being by not only being hunted The Clave but now the pack is hunting him down as well because they think he murdered their packmate (and who looks strangely enough, like Storm from X-men). Jace still couldn’t catch one break this episode and thankfully was rescued by Jocelyn and then later by Isabelle. Jace was just so worried about Alec and nothing was going to keep him from his paratabai’s side. I could almost hear the song, ‘Aint No Mountain High Enough‘ playing in the background during Jace’s scenes.

And speaking of Jace and Alec, I absolutely loved all of the flashbacks! I really liked seeing how Alec and Jace’s relationship developed over the years. It really gave me a lot of insight into both of their characters and backstories. Also, young Alec, Jace, and Isabelle were all so damn cute that I just wanted to pinch their cheeks and give them cookies. I think I cried when Alec ended up admitting that he was gay and was in love with Jace to Isabelle. And then I was even more of a wreck when Isabelle told Alec that one day someone would love his heart and soul.

Let’s move on to talk a little more about Simon and his subplot because the show writers have been killing it with the Simon scenes this season. He’s yet another character yet again that can’t catch a break. First of all, apparently Camille hasn’t been idle at all since Clary and Simon released her in the season finale. Apparently, Camille has been gathering all her vampires she sired in hopes of planning an attack to take over The New York Coven. With the civil war happening amongst the vampires, Simon finds himself once again smack dab in the middle of this mess.

On top of Raphael forcing Simon to find Camille, his mother Eliane has been leaving him worried messages, because she has discovered that Simon has been lying to her. Panicked, Simon comes home to find a bottle of vodka in his room and realizes that Eliane (who is a recovering acholic) has been drinking again. So he calls Clary and asks her to help him find his mother.

So my FAVORITE part of this whole entire episode is that Clary tells him that Simon should tell his mother the truth. However, with the way Clary says it, it really makes it sound that Simon should come out of the closet as being not pansexual. After Clary leaves, Simon goes in and he’s all set to tell Eliane everything, but then she says that she already knows. BUT WAIT IT GETS BETTER!

Because the writers make it seem that Eliane knows that her son is not straight, and then at that same time Raphael comes up to the both of them. And the writers make it all sound like Simon was introducing his boyfriend Raphael to his mother. And I shit you not folks at that point, I nearly squeed so loud I woke the fucking neighbors!

But then Raphael (that freaking asshat) ruins all of my saphael feels the moment he’s left alone with Simon by threatening Eliane’s life if Simon doesn’t find Camille. I literally wanted to throw myself into the scene and slap Raphael upside the head a few times!

Now, moving on from Raphael’s fuckery, I want to now take some time to talk about Isabelle and how awesome she was in this episode. Aldertree put her in a hard situation, making her basically choose between her two brothers. However, instead of crumpling under all the pressure, instead, she got shit done. I think one of my frustrations so far about these last three episodes that there hasn’t been a nice subplot for Isabelle and Lydia, who are great women characters. And I honestly was glad to see more of Isabelle, and I’m hoping that both women will get more to do this season.

About the author

When I'm not roasting Cassandra Clare, or her creations, I actually have a job as a Digital Artist. When I'm not working, I'm either reading books, or chasing around my nieces and nephews, and fangirling over my OTP's, and re-examining my life choices.